The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

The jailer brought over two bowls of rice: "Your Highness, it's noon, please have something to eat first."

Having finally found a breakthrough, Chen Nan had no time to think about eating or drinking.

He gave a few perfunctory words and then got up and left.

As she was leaving, she ran into Mo Bai, who was late.

Chen Nan briefly explained Wu Xu's proposal.

Mo Bai smiled faintly: "Your Highness, I have already gone."

"Most of the land in Gejia Village was sold to the Qian family."

"The Qian family practically monopolized the cloth trade in Northern Wei."

"Because the imperial court did not value merchants, the Qian family bought up land on a large scale."

"They wanted to use this to grab attention and get noticed by those in power."

Chen Nan asked in surprise, "Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants?"

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I mean." Mo Bai was greatly shocked to find that after talking for so long, he couldn't summarize it as accurately as Chen Nan's four words.

He then added, "Although the Qian family monopolizes the fabric industry..."

"But because he was just a merchant, he was not valued by some nobles."

"So they spend money on minor officials to elevate their family's status."

"Buying an official position?" Chen Nan was even more shocked.

During the Daqian era, although things were rather chaotic, it hadn't reached the point where people were buying their way into official positions.

In the Northern Wei Dynasty, not only was it common for officials to be bought and sold, but the forced requisition of land was also very common.

He knew that under these circumstances, reforms would inevitably have to be accelerated.

"Mo Bai, I'm leaving the investigation of the Qian family to you."

"Report to me promptly if anything happens afterward."

"Wu Xu, you will come back to the manor with me!"

Chen Nan hurriedly gave the instructions.

After giving the instructions, he returned to the palace as quickly as possible.

He locked himself in his room and told Wu Xu that no one was allowed to disturb him.

However, they stayed there for a whole day and night.

The next morning, Chen Nan, with dark circles under his eyes, came out of his room with a big smile on his face.

A little girl, her hands trembling, brought a bowl of hot porridge to the door: "Your Highness..."

"Who are you???"

Chen Nan was puzzled. A little girl had come to his house? And he didn't even know?

Wu Xu quickly explained, "Your Highness, this girl is Ge Erdan's granddaughter."

"Her grandfather was summoned to Gejia Village by Mo Bai, and she stayed in the mansion alone."

"Because there was nothing to do, and I heard that the prince was in seclusion, I made some thin porridge."

The doubt on Chen Nan's face disappeared, replaced by a smile: "Little guy, what's your name?"

"Your Highness, I...I am called Ge Qingqing."

Ge Qingqing answered, trembling, word by word.

Chen Nan took the thin porridge from her hand; the yellow wheat porridge was still steaming.

He didn't seem to mind and finished the porridge in one gulp.

Ge Qingqing watched as Chen Nan finished all the porridge she had made herself, and then smiled innocently: "Your Highness, was it delicious?"

"It's delicious, thank you!"

Chen Nan handed the bowl back.

After watching Ge Qingqing leave, he said coldly, "What kind of work is Uncle Wang doing? He actually made the guest cook?"

Chen Nan's sudden outburst of anger caused Wu Xu to take a small step back and explain in a low voice, "Your Highness, Uncle Wang hasn't woken up yet."

"Still not awake?"

Chen Nan became even angrier.

Good heavens, this prince has been pondering this day and night without sleeping.

As a servant, he was still awake when it was time to go to sleep.

"Not only him, but all the servants are still awake..."

Wu Xu then added another sentence.

"Tell Mo Bai to replace all the servants in the household."

He doesn't need someone lazier than himself.

"Come with me to the palace. I have important business with the Empress Dowager."

This time, the two did not encounter any difficulties when entering the palace.

In the Imperial Garden, the Empress Dowager smiled as she looked at Chen Nan, who was bowing respectfully.

"What business does the Prince of Zhennan have with me?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that the court needs reform."

"Reform?" The Empress Dowager frowned slightly.

In fact, she also knew that the Northern Wei Dynasty seemed to be thriving at the moment.

In reality, the Northern Wei Dynasty was already rife with corruption.

In particular, her orders have begun to give the impression of being subservient to outsiders, even if they are not explicitly obeyed.

Therefore, she wholeheartedly agreed with Chen Nan's suggestion.

Just then, the system's voice echoed in Chen Nan's mind.

[Ding, task issued: Court officials collectively passed the reform of the prefecture-county system.]

[The reward for successful mission is 30,000 sets of Bright Armor and 30,000 Mo Dao swords.]

"Thirty thousand Bright Armored Soldiers and thirty thousand Mo Dao Blades?" Chen Nan was overjoyed.

With the forging technology of that era, it was simply impossible to forge a Mo Dao (陌刀).

Moreover, the Mo Dao is like a divine weapon to ordinary weapons.

Not to mention its effectiveness against cavalry.

As for the task? Is it really that difficult for court officials to pass reforms?

At least in Chen Nan's opinion, it wasn't too difficult.

"I wonder how the Prince of Zhennan intends to make these changes?"

Suddenly, the Empress Dowager raised a question.

Although she wanted to implement reforms, she also knew that reform was extremely difficult for a woman, especially one without real power.

Chen Nan took out a map: "Your Majesty, please take a look."

"This map is a topographical map of my Northern Wei Dynasty."

"It contains thirty-six cities and an area."

"I believe that the current city system has a major drawback."

The city system of the Northern Wei Dynasty consisted of three cities jointly governed, with each city having a county magistrate and subordinate officials.

Above the county magistrate are the city lords of the three cities, who are responsible for all matters in the three cities.

Most importantly, the imperial decrees were all issued directly to the city lord.

Those county magistrates had no idea whether the imperial court had actually issued the decree.

Chen Nan then spoke up: "Your Majesty, I believe that the Northern Wei can adopt the prefecture-county system."

"The thirty-six cities were divided into three prefectures, and each prefecture was under the jurisdiction of twelve counties."

"These county towns are still the same cities, just with different names."

"However, the prefect and the imperial court can directly issue orders to these counties."

"And every time an official document is issued, it must be stamped with the imperial seal."

"This is to avoid people with ulterior motives."

The Empress Dowager pondered for a moment: "Hmm, the Prince of Zhennan's suggestion is not bad. But will the court officials agree?"

"Those city lords and prime ministers were all recommended by them."

The Empress Dowager shrank back slightly: "Also, that small area was a small tribe that the late Emperor discovered during his conquests."

"Most of that tribe still have the habit of eating raw meat."

"The habit of eating raw meat?" Chen Nan's fingers trembled slightly.

He had only heard of the term "Mao Ru drinking blood" before.

Unexpectedly, he actually witnessed this era today.

After a pause, he said, "Your Majesty, let's form three prefectures and one district."

"We will divide those barbarians into a tribe and gradually integrate them into our Northern Wei, thereby achieving the goal of assimilation."

"Of course, this includes not only institutional reforms, but also the election of officials and the imperial court system!"

Chen Nan then put forward a new suggestion.